BARTLETT PEAR PREC00LING AND STORAGE INVESTIGATIONS. 23 



withdrawal of the same pick. In the third inspection of the immedi- 

 ately cooled lots, third and fourth withdrawals of the first pick, 

 there was 70/2 and 01.7 per cent of partial physiological decay, re- 

 spectively. The pears showing- partial physiological decay were in 

 fairly good condition for immediate consumption, being of good 

 eating quality, but they deteriorated rapidly. Undoubtedly the great 

 difference in partial physiological decay between the third and 

 fourth withdrawals, third pick, third inspection, is due to the rather 

 variable temperatures which occurred at the time these were held 

 in the warehouse. No definite conclusions can be drawn from the 

 inspections as regards cooling before and after packing. In general, 

 the fruit cooled before packing appeared to be in slightly better 

 condition, but not enough to warrant the expense such an operation 

 would entail. Where fruit is cooled before packing, it can be cooled 

 more quickly and uniformly. 



The delayed cooled and stored lots showed considerably more 

 wilting and shriveling and on an average more fungous decay and 

 more complete physiological decay than the lots immediately cooled 

 and stored. The delay of two days required for this work is no 

 more than the average given Bartlett pears under commercial han- 

 dling conditions. 



RESULTS OF THE EXPERIMENTS. 



While it is realized that the work here reported must be considered 

 as only preliminary, indicating the scope which future investigations 

 should follow, the results were striking and consistent throughout 

 and sufficient data are at hand to warrant a full commercial test 

 and demonstration of this method of marketing Bartlett pears in the 

 Pacific Northwest. Further study is necessary in order to determine 

 the factors of seasonal influence, which must be taken into considera- 

 tion before all phases of the problem are solved. 



The results indicate that the marketing season of Bartlett pears 

 can be lengthened or extended six or seven weeks, provided some 

 changes are made in the method of handling the crop. 



The pickings as a rule should be made fully two weeks later than 

 is the ordinary practice. At this time the fruit will be of larger size, 

 of better quality, and in every way will hold up better in storage and 

 in transit. There will be some dropping where the fruit is held on 

 the trees tw T o weeks longer, but this will largely be offset by the in- 

 crease in size and the improvement in keeping quality. It is also of 

 the greatest importance that the fruit be placed in storage or in an 

 iced refrigerator car as soon as possible after picking, as a delay 

 in cooling of even two days caused much more deterioration than 

 occurred in fruit stored immediately, whether packed before or after 

 cooling. 



[Cir. 114] 



